About Us

NW Innovation Works (NWIW) is a multi-national partnership committed to meeting a global need – a cleaner source for methanol production. We are constructing a clean-tech facility in Kalama, Washington, that will use natural gas instead of coal to produce methanol. In so doing, our environmentally responsible manufacturing facility will help reduce our global carbon footprint while we protect our local environment and create a new clean tech economy. NWIW is owned by Pan Pacific Energy Corp. (PPE), and is managed by a team with years of experience in project development, engineering, finance, and manufacturing, including:

Global Advisory Board

CHAIRMAN, GARY LOCKE

Mr. Locke is the former Governor of Washington (1997-2005). Following his two terms as governor, he held the position of Secretary of Commerce from 2009-2011 and later U.S. Ambassador to China from 2011-2014.

As Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Locke worked to implement President Obama’s agenda to turn around the economy and put people back to work. As the administration’s point person for achieving the President’s National Export Initiative, he presided over a 17 percent increase in exports of Made in America goods and services from 2009 to 2010, while exports to China saw a 32 percent increase.

Mr. Locke has extensive experience working with China. As Secretary of Commerce, he co-chaired two sessions of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade that resulted in important changes to Chinese trade policy. As Governor of Washington, he strengthened economic ties between China and Washington State, more than doubling the state's exports to China to over $5 billion per year. As a Partner in the Seattle office of the international law firm, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, he co-chaired the firm’s China practice.

Mr. Locke has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University and a law degree from Boston University.

CHOON FONG SHIH

Professor Choon Fong Shih has been University Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) since 2013. Prior to his recent position, Professor Shih served as the Founding President of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) from 2008-2013. Before assuming the presidency at KAUST, he served as President of National University of Singapore for nine years. He has been widely acknowledged for creating the University's research-intensive focus with an entrepreneurial dimension, as well as for NUS' elevated global reputation. Drawing from his experiences abroad, Professor Shih institutionalized a performance- and market-based evaluation and compensation system for academics.

Professor Shih was a key driver for the formation of the International Alliance of Research Universities, and led the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) for four years. He was the founding chair of the Governing Board of the APRU World Institute and served on national-level committees such as the Economic Review Committee, which crafted wide-ranging strategies for the re-making of Singapore.

Professor Shih is among the highly cited researchers in the world for the category of engineering compiled by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). In 2004, Professor Shih became the first Singaporean to be elected as a Foreign Associate to the United States National Academy of Engineering. He was awarded the French decoration "Chevalier" in the Order of the "Legion d'Honneur" in 2005. In 2006, Professor Shih was elected as a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in recognition of his work and research achievements. In 2007, Professor Shih received the inaugural Chief Executive Leadership Award for Asia Pacific presented by the Council for Advancement and Support for Education.

Professor Shih serves on the judging panel of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and has advisory/consultant roles with Elsevier Materials Science Council, Peking University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, SUSTech, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Saudi Aramco, among others.

DAVID B. SANDALOW

Professor Sandalow is the Inaugural Fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, where he directs the US-China Energy & Climate program and works on a wide range of issues including the future of the electric grid, renewables finance and CO2 utilization.

Prior to joining Columbia, Professor Sandalow served in senior positions at the U.S. Department of Energy, including Under Secretary of Energy (acting) and Assistant Secretary for Policy & International Affairs. Prior to serving at DOE, Professor Sandalow was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, as well as Energy & Climate Change Working Group Chair at the Clinton Global Initiative. He has served as Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment & Science and a Senior Director on the National Security Council staff.

Professor Sandalow writes and speaks widely on energy and climate policy. His recent works include Solar Together (Center on Global Energy Policy, 2016), The History and Future of the Clean Energy Ministerial (Center on Global Energy Policy 2016), ICEF Solar and Storage Roadmap (2015, project chair) and Meeting China’s Shale Gas Goals (Center on Global Energy Policy, 2014, lead author). He was the editor of Plug-In Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington? (Brookings Press, 2009) and co-author of U.S.-China Cooperation on Climate Change (Brookings, 2009). He is the author of Freedom from Oil (McGraw-Hill, 2008) and dozens of articles and op-eds. Professor Sandalow has appeared on CNN, NPR, NBC, BBC, CCTV and many other broadcast outlets and served as a moderator at conferences including the World Future Energy Summit, ARPA-E Summit and Clean Energy Ministerial. He served as Honorary Chair of the Energy Storage Association’s 2015 Annual Conference.

Professor Sandalow holds an appointment as Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Strategy & Policy at Tsinghua University. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Innovation for Cool Earth Forum and chairs the ICEF Innovation Roadmap Project. Professor Sandalow is a member of the Board of Directors of ReNew Power and a Senior Advisor to Highview Power Storage, Tsing Capital and Fermata. He is a member of the Selection Committee of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, University of Michigan Energy Institute’s Advisory Board, the Electric Drive Transport Association’s “Hall of Fame” and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and Yale College.

Executives

SIMON ZHANG

CEO, NW Innovation Works, LLCSimon Zhang has over 20 years’ experience successfully managing complex energy and industrial projects and has managed NWIW’s operations for the last four years. Before joining the NWIW development team, Mr. Zhang held a number of leadership roles at BP including Solar Global Vice President, Strategic Alliances, Chief of Staff of BP Global Chemicals, and Deputy Chief Financial Officer of BP-Sinopec Retail JV in Zhejiang, China. Mr. Zhang received degrees in chemical engineering from Tsinghua University (BS), Purdue University (MS), the University of Wisconsin (PhD), an MBA from the University of Chicago, and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.

MURRAY V. (VEE) GODLEY

Chief Development Officer, NW Innovation Works LLCVee Godley is NWIW’s Northwest-based executive. He has more than 30 years of project development and project management experience. Most recently, Mr. Godley served as Senior Site Manager for Industrial Piping, Inc. He previously held leadership positions at Sanders Bros, Inc., a capital construction company serving industry from southern Virginia to Mississippi. He studied electrical engineering at Beaufort County Community College and physics at North Carolina State University.

KENT CAPUTO

Chief Commercial Officer and General Counsel, NW Innovation Works LLCKent Caputo serves as Chief Commercial Officer and General Counsel for NW Innovation Works and Pan Pacific Energy. As Chief Commercial Officer and General Counsel, Kent is responsible for commercial opportunities and partnerships, legal and contractual issues, regulatory compliance and interaction, strategic business and financial relationships, policy interaction, and marketing communications strategy. He oversees legal, regulatory, communications and external affairs resources, including internal and external management and staff, attorneys, consultants and issue experts.

As an executive and attorney with over 25 years of public and private sector experience, Kent’s career represents a depth and breadth of understanding across industries and government, addressing a wide variety of legal, regulatory, policy, and business issues. As a legislative attorney and subsequently as Legal Counsel to the Governor of Washington State, Kent dealt extensively with executive, legislative and judicial branch officials as well as federal, local and tribal officials, media, private sector interests and varied public and political organizations. Kent’s broad array of strategic focus areas include business and economic development, tribal government relations, energy and technology and issues related to highly regulated and politically sensitive matters. His private practice clients have included developers, tribes, energy/pipeline and internet service providers, manufacturers and high profile media subjects.

As a multifaceted industry leader and former Chief Operating Officer responsible for over 2000 employees, Kent’s business, financial, project development and operational oversight experience is unparalleled. His legal, regulatory, government and public affairs, and media relations expertise have proved invaluable to clients, investors, former employers, stakeholders, and employees.

Kent graduated as an Honors Scholar with a Bachelor of Science in Economics as well as a Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. He earned a Master of Laws from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Kent is a dual citizen of the United States & Italy. He and his wife, Marsha, have two children and one very large dog.

EDWARD J. SAPPIN

Chief Financial Officer, NW Innovation Works, LLCMr. Sappin is a finance and strategy leader with senior level experience in private equity, Fortune 50 corporations, startups, and banking. He has had key roles in over 60 projects, investments, and transactions in the US, Asia, and global markets, representing over $8 billion in capital. Mr. Sappin previously founded Sappin Global Strategies, an investment and advisory firm. Earlier, he served as Director, Project Development, for the alternative energy division of BP, where he led teams in the US and Asia Pacific on over $2 billion of solar power projects. He previously ran the investment team at New Asia Partners, a middle market private equity group based in Shanghai. Before this, he was a Senior Strategist at Intel. He has also worked in New York and London in alternative investments and banking at firms including JP Morgan, Durlacher, and Credit Agricole.

PHIL EASTLAND

Vice President of Technology, NW Innovation Works, LLCMr. Eastland graduated from Imperial College in 1984 with a degree in chemical engineering and joined Davy Process Technology's London office, working in the Process Engineering department. Mr. Eastland worked as a Process Engineer in the petrochemical technology area before concentrating on methanol from the mid-1990s. He was part of the commissioning and start-up team for a methanol plant in Trinidad and was Commissioning Manager for a second plant. He then was the Lead Engineer for the BP Compact Reformer and Gas to Liquids demonstration plant in Alaska before becoming Technology Manager for Methanol at Johnson Matthey Davy in 1999. In 2008, Mr. Eastland moved into the role of Business Manager for Methanol and had a global responsibility for licensing Johnson Matthey Davy’s methanol technology.

YANNING LUO

Vice President of Engineering, NW Innovation Works, LLCMs. Luo has over 30 years of experience in technology development, engineering design, project management, plant operation, and Sino-foreign joint venture setup. She was the Project Engineering Team Leader for the BP Zhuhai PTA project and plant, and has served in various management roles in top Chinese engineering companies. She has a degree in chemical engineering from Tianjin University and is a Certified Senior Process Engineer.

CLAY RIDING

Vice President of Energy Resources, NW Innovation Works, LLCMr. Riding has 34 years of experience in the energy industry covering a broad range of areas including resource acquisition, risk management, utility operations management, trading, and business development and marketing, primarily in the Pacific Northwest. Prior to joining NWIW, he held various roles in resource acquisition and management, trading, marketing and business development, and finance for Puget Sound Energy, The Energy Authority and The Williams Companies.

Northwest Innovation Works is a multi-national partnership committed to building clean-tech facilities.